North Korea is suspected of launching a massive cyberwar strike--"cyber" refers to "cyberspace," a term coined for interconnected computer networks, and now applied to the global Internet. The cyber-strike disabled computer networks, including the Secret Service, Pentagon, State, Treasury, NASDAQ, and yes, the White House. Because cyber-attackers often route through remote computers to disguise the origin location they can be hard to trace all the way to the source. Heritage Foundation national security scholar Peter Brookes assesses the North's cyber-capability. More than 100 nations have some cyberwar resources.
Cyberspace can be used, broadly speaking, for three types of attacks: (1) attacks that take down communications networks--such as the "denial of service" strikes this week that shut down network connectivity and slowed residual network access to a crawl; (2) attacks that use cyberspace to attack other infrastructures--such as the electric grid, dams; (3) attacks that use cyberspace to send harmful content aimed at vulnerable populations--such as militant Islamist groups seeking to recruit jihadists via Internet website. N.B., two of three types of cyber-attack don't try to take cyberspace networks down, but rather to keep them working, but then misuse them.
Networks are increasingly accessible, global, programmable and fragile. Because they are widely accessible, anyone can gain access to the public network given a device and connection capable of doing so. Because they are global in reach, cyberwar can reach almost anyone, anytime, anywhere; they are susceptible to "cascade failure"--damage at a single node can spread through an entire network. Because they are programmable, skilled malicious users--hackers, in common parlance--can gain access to network control assets and use the network to inflict vast harm. And because they are fragile, networks can prove hard to rapidly restore.
Rogue nations can use cyberwar as an added weapon in their arsenal. Russia did so in attacking Estonia in May 2007. China spies on us daily. And now, North Korea, possibly, has joined those ranks.
Bottom Line. Cyber-attacks are a daily occurrence. Networks are a Faustian Bargain: On the plus side, they provide vast connectivity to vital services at low cost; on the downside, they are highly vulnerable. They are thus like leverage in the financial system: lots of fun when working well, lots of pain when not working well, or when not working at all.
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